The Ocean Environment Essay examples -- Marine Environment Essays

Ocean Environment     The sea is the most unequivocal feature of the earths surface.Approximately seventy percent of this surface is covered by piddle, in whizz way oranother. Beneath this water atomic number 18 the familiar sands of the beaches, bottoms ofbays, and the inshore ocean. Farther offshore this water covers an fearfulsubshipboard soldier topography of underwater c eitherons, trenches, mountains, and plains.Unlike the continents, which ar physic all in ally separated from one another, theoceans ar continuous and interconnected. Since the "world ocean iscontinuous"(M.J. Keen) it has similar characteristics throughout. In the early1870s oceanographers collected seawater samples from all of the seas of theworld at a variety of depths. When analyzed, the samples were found to havequite similar characteristics. These findings convinced many an(prenominal) that a method ofstudy was needed. The study of oceans was named oceanography.      Density, salinity, and temperature atomic number 18 very strategic concepts in thestudy of oceanography. The salinity and temperature of the water influence its density, and the differences in density are the major factor in understandingthe formation of currents and the positions of water masses in the sea. Inaddition, temperature and salinity play major roles in influencing thedistribution of plants and animals.     The depositorys of the sea floor may be divided into lithogenous,hydrogenous, biogenous, and cosmogenous sediments. Lithogenous sediments arethe major sediments on the ocean floor. They are derived from the chemical substance andmechanical weathering of rocks. biogenous sediments are composed primarily ofthe protective outter covering of small marine animals and plants. If theseremains comprise at least thirty percent of the sediment it is called an "ooze"."Oozes" were named for the types of organisms that formed th em. Hydrogenoussediments form as a result of the chemical reactions that occur in the seawater.These reactions result in the formation of small particles, which are depositedon the sea floor. Currents move these particles and cause them to collide withthe other particles. If many of these collisions occur they may form nodules.Nodules are found on round portions of the deep-sea floor. The sediment typefrequently determines the type of organ... ...discarge of cover fromships, and the schooling of emergency response systems to oil pollutionaccidents have contributed to the decline of ship-based souces of oil pollutionover the last two decades. The moratorium on dumping of hot waste atsea under the London Dumping ruler also represents another response toconcerns about the risks posed by much(prenominal) diposal. Some regions have concludedagreement which ban dumping of any radioactive waste at sea. In theMediterranean and Red Sea, all discharge of oily wasted from ships is alsob anned.     The differences between terrestial regions are hale known. Less wellknown are the features that distingush the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean, orthe coast of South America from those of Southern Africa. Regardless of this,the various regions of the worlds oceans are all affected by human activity,with pollution and harvesting of resouces of resouces being common to all seasand oceans. The various marine resources, as well as the extent of humanimpacts on them, are examined region by region, illustrating hos stresses on themarine environmet treatened the very resistance of some habitats and species.